Custom fabrication
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 187
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From: Santa Cruz
Custom fabrication
I have a 56 ford pickup that I'm doing the body work on currently and wanted to try fabricating a custom overhead center console. Something that can hold a stereo, a dome light, maybe the window switches, and a drop slightly over the rear window for a third brake light inside. I pretty much have the idea of what it looks like in my head but I can't figure out how to go about it. It should end up being one solid piece, flowing out of the sheetmetal above the windshield, down the center of the roof towards the back and then dipping down to round out just over the edge of the rear window. I've heard one idea of bending metal rods to the basic contours, welding those in place, and then forming and welding sheetmetal over the rods and finishing it off with good ole bondo. Any other suggestions? Thanks
Craig
Craig
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,859
Likes: 7
From: USA
Custom fabrication
thats one way to do it !
here's another
take an make some cardboard templates of the shape you want this to be ,starting from the front of the cab working towards the back ,then cut plywood from your templates with braces to hold your shape .
Then take your basic shape mount it on a board so you can use fiberglass resin and cloth to layup your shape ,
West system epoxy and cloth is good.
when that stuff hardens you can grind it file it cut it ,and keep building it up into your final shape,then finish it.
you can use a release material under your resin
to release the wood from the epoxy.
please be careful when handling any chemicals though !read all pecautions.
Just one other way stuff like this can be done.
Rich
here's another
take an make some cardboard templates of the shape you want this to be ,starting from the front of the cab working towards the back ,then cut plywood from your templates with braces to hold your shape .
Then take your basic shape mount it on a board so you can use fiberglass resin and cloth to layup your shape ,
West system epoxy and cloth is good.
when that stuff hardens you can grind it file it cut it ,and keep building it up into your final shape,then finish it.
you can use a release material under your resin
to release the wood from the epoxy.
please be careful when handling any chemicals though !read all pecautions.
Just one other way stuff like this can be done.
Rich
